General Nathan Bedford Forrest At the battle of Brice's Crossroads, Mississippi, on June 10, 1864,
Forrest gave the Union Cavalry commander General Samuel Sturgis one of the classic beatings of the Civil War. With 3300 dismounted troopers Forrest threw back Sturgis 8,000 man force in overwhelming and smashing defeat. The morning after the battle and as the rout of the Union forces continued, Forrest said to his artillery commander, Captain John Morton, 'the way to whip an enemy is to "git 'em skeered, and then keep the skeer on'em."